Alcohol unbanning hits a sour note for some in East London

The lifting of the booze ban under alert level 2 lockdown regulations will make little difference to East London restaurants that were left high and dry by the government when it mattered most.

Like many sectors, restaurants have suffered under crippling restrictions.

Some owners say their greatest disappointment is that the government did not come to the party with relief funds or provide them with safety equipment.

Three BCM restaurant owners said on Monday it would take a long time for revenue streams to return to normal, with or without alcohol sales.

Alcohol can now be sold again by licensed off-sales outfits such as bottle stores from 9am until 5pm from Monday to Thursday, according to new level 2 regulations gazetted on Monday.

Alcohol can be purchased for on-site consumption at licensed restaurants and taverns throughout the week, up until the 10pm curfew.

Linda Mynhardt, the owner of Table 58 Brewing in Beacon Bay,   had to shut down the craft beer operation during  lockdown level 4, but  would reopen on Friday.

She said she expected to see a difference in profits.

“We have a nice outside area and people generally go out to enjoy the atmosphere and eat and have a few drinks. We found that when we tried to go the takeaway route during level 3 it didn't work for us. So we are super excited with lifting with ban and we just hope everything works out fine,” said Mynhardt.

She tried to apply for a business loan to reopen which proved to be a fruitless exercise.

“We had some refusals from banks because no-one wants to take a risk with us. We make our own beer on site. Hopefully the customers will be back and they won't be scared of Covid-19. We have  protocols in place to avoid infections but it's just too early to say whether the unbanning [of liquor] will help our business or not.”

Mthombo Nkula, owner of Mthombo's Palace in Mdantsane NU7, said there was nothing to be happy about when it came to the ban being lifted.

“We got no support [from authorities] and now whatever money we might have saved, the overheads are high. And you have to buy material like PPE and sanitisers for the business. We didn't  get anything yet we pay taxes.”

During lockdown many businesses had to fend for themselves and had closed as a result, said Nkula.

“Any sort of assistance from the authorities is welcomed because businesses will struggle going forward.”

Nkula said the alcohol sale regulations were still “too tight”.  

“There will only be a small difference made to my business because things are still tight. During the week our customers are at work and that forces them to buy their own alcohol at well-established liquor stores, meaning they don't need to come to us,” Nkula said.

Michael Butcher, owner of Cafe du Jardin in Beacon Bay, which serves light lunches, anytime snacks and coffee, said he had benefited from the ban on alcohol sales but now he expected his business to take a knock.  

“Selling alcohol won't make a huge difference to me because our customers don’t come for alcohol. We barely felt the impact of no booze,” said Butcher.

“People come in for a coffee instead of going for a beer during lunch and that helped us. But I'm sure with other restaurants it's going to make a difference.”

Butcher said the lifting of the ban meant nothing unless patrons overcame their fear of contracting Covid-19 while eating and drinking out.

“When people's impressions change that will make a huge difference, and that's when businesses will start recovering.”